


Chemical Love Affair

by TMar



Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: F/M, Feelings Realization, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-09
Updated: 2018-11-09
Packaged: 2019-08-21 04:07:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16569341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TMar/pseuds/TMar
Summary: Picard eats something that brings down his emotional barriers.





	Chemical Love Affair

**Author's Note:**

> From October 1992. More Tropes On Parade!

CHEMICAL LOVE AFFAIR

Captain Jean-Luc Picard was looking forward to the ship's annual cooking  
competition with great relish. Not that he was one to brag, but he  
considered himself to have one of the best palates in Starfleet, and he was  
always called on to be a judge of the cooking competition.

Anyone and everyone could enter, but the food was divided into various  
categories: cooked, uncooked, savoury, sweet, etc. The reason for the  
'cooked' and 'uncooked' categories was the fact that no one had thought of  
it two years before when Worf had presented a plate full of Heart of Targ...

Picard could still taste it, and didn't want a repeat. He only judged  
cooked food now, and Worf (or Riker, who loved Klingon and other  
alien dishes) got to judge the uncooked section. The same people entered  
year after year, but this year the ship had changed format slightly by  
inviting the high school cooking class to submit entries. Thus, they would  
get to sample new food, and see if there was any fresh talent emerging from  
the teenage contingent of the Enterprise population.

As he remembered eating the Heart of Targ, Picard's face broke into a smile,  
eliciting curiosity from his tea companion. "Something funny, Jean-Luc?"  
asked Beverly Crusher.

"I was just remembering the cooking competition two years ago," he answered.

"Oh, yeah, the Targ incident. Your face was so comical, Jean-Luc! Worf took  
it as a personal insult." She laughed merrily, and Picard smiled ruefully.

"Hmm. What do you think we'll get this year?"

"Well, the cooking class has been experimenting with Vulcan dishes..."

"Not plomeek soup again!" said Picard. "I really don't much care for it. The  
last thing I want is to have to judge ten plates of plomeek soup."

The doctor smiled, but said nothing to that.

***

Keiko Ishikawa O'Brien finished playing with Molly, and sat down on the  
ground, exhausted. "Miles, what are you doing?"

"Practising for the cooking competition."

"Really?" It had never occurred to Keiko to enter the competition, but if  
Miles was going to... "Would you mind if I entered it as well?"

O'Brien looked at her, appraising that statement. "No, I wouldn't mind...."  
he mused, "as long as you don't enter the same category as me."

"Great!"

Already Keiko could think of hundreds of dishes which she would enjoy making  
for the competition. Most were Japanese, but a few were exotic alien dishes.  
Keiko suddenly had a brainwave. There was a particular Vulcan dish called  
kuusht salad, which looked and tasted a lot like many traditional Japanese  
dishes, but which was more complicated to make. It took skill, and Keiko  
wanted to demonstrate her skill for all to see.

Miles looked up as his wife bounded out of their quarters to go to the  
garden to see if the ingredients were available...

***

William T. Riker, too, was looking forward to the competition. He really  
enjoyed food, and loved the feast they had when the whole thing was over...  
but he also enjoyed showing off his cooking skills. To that end, he had  
specially planted some Earth potatoes in the ship's garden. He was going to  
make a very old, scarce dish called shepherd's pie.

As he walked in to check his potatoes, he saw a flustered Keiko kneeling in  
the garden. "Keiko? What's wrong? Can I give you a hand?"

The Japanese woman looked up, clearly not satisfied with something. "Oh, no,  
Commander Riker. I needed some kushe leaves for my kuusht salad, but there  
doesn't appear to be any here."

"Replicate some," said Riker reasonably.

"Can't. For certain categories, only the genuine thing is allowed."

"Oh, yeah, salads. Well, find a substitute."

Keiko looked at Riker gratefully, glad to have some help. "You know what  
kushe leaves look like?" At his nod she went on, "Could you scan the plants  
for a molecular similarity and find one that looks the same while I collect  
the rest of the ingredients?"

"Sure," and Riker went about his business locating a suitable plant for the  
ship's botanist.

The day of the cooking competition dawned black and starry as usual. All  
over the ship, people were cooking and talking about cooking and generally  
not getting much else done.

Picard was having morning tea with the ship's doctor, trying to persuade her  
to be a co-judge... but she wasn't buying it. "Oh no, Jean-Luc, you can  
forget that idea right now. I don't want to have to try all sorts of food  
that I can't identify."

At that, Picard looked rather hurt. "Doctor, have you no sense of  
adventure?"

"Huh!" She merely smiled at him.

When they walked into Holodeck Three, everything was set out, and it was  
only the judging that now had to start in earnest.

Picard started judging the cooked food on one side, while Riker judged the  
uncooked food. Both sampled the salads, and then the co-judges did the same.  
Picard had really enjoyed the taste of Keiko's kuusht salad, but  
unfortunately the other judges didn't agree that it was the absolute BEST  
dish they had tasted... so the honour of the best dish went (surprise,  
surprise) to Sonja Gomez for a wonderful rendition of (of all things!)  
Italian pizza in the cooked food section. Worf won in the uncooked for his  
splendid Heart of Targ. Worf entered it every year, and, according to Riker,  
the dish just got better every time. In the section for salads and desserts,  
there was a tie between Mrs. Davis's Bjoran "rice pudding" (there was no  
exact translation, and the thing certainly didn't contain any rice!) and a  
young high-school student's Rigellian mousse. He looked very pleased with  
himself when Picard handed over the certificate, and promised to "teach" the  
computer in Ten Forward how REAL Rigellian mousse should be prepared.

All in all, an enjoyable competition, after which everyone who could  
attacked the food with gusto...

And Picard pulled Keiko aside and asked her to save the rest of her kuusht  
salad for him, so that he could eat and enjoy it later. She agreed, and  
Picard took it to safety (from hungry Enterprise people) in his quarters  
where he enojyed every mouthful.

It was the next day when the Enterprise crew started to notice some  
differences in their commander. They would never, in effect, find out what  
it was, but it took everyone, including Picard, by surprise.

Riker was on the bridge for the first watch when Picard walked in, smiling  
in a slightly manic way. "Morning, Number One. Lovely day, isn't it?"

"Yes, Captain." Riker returned Picard's smile, thinking nothing of it until  
Picard literally bounded down the ramp from the turbolift and jumped - yes,  
jumped - into the command chair, still smiling. "I have the bridge."

"Er... yes, Sir," said Will Riker uncertainly.

"Well, what's on the cards for today?" asked Picard with great enthusiasm.  
Ro Laren, sitting at the Conn, replied. "We have to send probes out to  
collect data in the Dusky Nebula."

"Bo-oring," said Picard. "Aren't there any Romulans around?"

"Sir, are you feeling all right?" Riker asked, standing by the turbolift but  
not quite entering it.

When Riker said that, Picard seemed to evaluate his behaviour, and he put a  
more serious expression onto his face. "Make it so, Ensign," he said to Ro  
Laren, "Warp 8."

And the ship got to its destination quite quickly.

Beverly Crusher was having tea with Deanna in Ten Forward, when Riker came  
in. "Have you seen the captain today?"

Both women replied in the negative, and Riker told them about the weird  
occurrence on the bridge. Beverly looked quite stunned, as did Deanna. "He  
said that?"

"Yes."

"It can't be..." Crusher turned to Will. "You don't think it's another  
doppelganger, do you?"

Riker shrugged. "It's a bit early to think that, but that certainly isn't  
normal behaviour for the captain."

"Agreed."

Then Picard walked in, and they all turned to stare. He was wearing rather  
casual clothes - an open shirt and his favourite pants (which were old, and  
used for things like going on archaeological digs). He ambled up to their  
table and sat down. "Hi, everyone. Nice day, isn't it?"

"Yes, Jean-Luc," Beverly replied. Picard NEVER wore anything but his uniform  
on his ship, unless he was going to the Holodeck. "You know what I feel like  
doing?"

"What?" asked Riker, wishing the minute he said it that he hadn't.

"Singing!"

"Singing? Ah, I don't think so, Sir," said Riker. Looking at Beverly with  
concern written all over his face, Riker addressed Picard. "The acoustics  
aren't very good in here."

"Oh. Well, another time then." And with that Picard got up, and sauntered  
out, winking at Sonja Gomez, who had just walked in. And everyone in Ten  
Forward stood there with their mouths open, in utter astonishment.

Picard went back to his Ready Room, feeling rather different. He knew that  
he didn't normally behave like that, but the part of him that had always  
wanted to had taken over, and he'd been unable to stop himself. "Why do I  
suddenly feel so free?" he said aloud, addressing Livingston, who of course  
could not answer back. He knew he had been waiting all his life to feel like  
this; it was as if he had always felt this way, and only now realised it.

Just then, his door chimed. "Come," he called, and in walked his chief  
medical officer. Picard smiled at her, and then that imp inside him welled  
up again, and the smile became more of an invitation... "Beverly," he said  
in a dangerous-sounding tone.

The doctor noticed it immediately. "Jean-Luc, how do you feel?"

Picard frowned. "I feel fine. Liberated. Good."

"What do you mean? Do you feel any different from yesterday, for instance?"

"Not really..." he mused. "I feel that now I can do and say things which I  
couldn't before."

"Like what?" Beverly asked patiently.

"Like leap into my command chair... I always wanted to. And say it when I  
think a mission will be boring. And sing, if I feel like it."

"No one said you couldn't."

"I said it... now, I realise I didn't have to. I can do those things.  
Beverly, I'm free!" Picard threw up his arms, as if embracing an imaginary  
sky. And Beverly knew that there had to be something wrong with him if he  
was behaving like that. But she didn't have a clue as to what had caused  
this erratic behaviour.

But before she could even try to decide what action to take, Picard had  
grabbed her, and began kissing her. It took her by complete surprise, but  
when the captain paused for breath, she asked, "Jean-Luc, why did you do  
that?"

"I've always wanted to." He suddenly spun her around. "Beverly! Let's  
explore the galaxy together!"

"Now?"

"Now!" And Picard took her hands and pulled her out of his Ready Room,  
straight into the turbolift. Not even Riker, standing next to the Ops  
console, could do anything.

"Jean-Luc, where are we going?"

"Out! But first... there's a little detail to be taken care of."

Keeping one hand on Beverly, Picard sneaked out of the turbolift on the  
engineering deck, and, seeing no one around (the console he wanted was not  
permanently manned), punched buttons on the console. Beverly knew only that  
the console had something to do with the sensor array. "Jean-Luc..."

"Hmm, hmm," he responded. "I'm making sure no one follows us."

"You're sabotaging the sensors? Captain, you can't do that!"

Smiling manically, Picard replied, "I just did."

And he dragged her with him to the shuttlebay.

Beverly could easily have resisted, but she knew that Picard had something  
wrong with him, and might need her medical attention if he took off on some  
crazy adventure. So she went with him as he comandeered a shuttlepod (no one  
was on duty there as the shuttles wouldn't be needed for the next twelve  
hours at least) and piloted them out into deep space.

"Jean-Luc, this is stupid," Beverly told him. "How far can we get? We don't  
even have warp drive. And now the ship can't find us."

"Yes... but now at least we have privacy."

"What?"

"On the ship we'd be interrupted. Here, we won't be." And Picard leaned  
forward to kiss her.

Beverly turned her head away. "No."

"No?"

"There's something wrong with you, Jean-Luc. This isn't you."

"Who is it then?"

"Something has happened to you."

"I feel... different. Maybe it's time I did."

Beverly shook her head. "No. You're more than this."

"Beverly, I want you."

The doctor said nothing, merely ignored Picard... and the fact that part of  
her was trying to get her to acknowledge that she wanted him, too.

Keiko had incorporated a very unusual Ferengi plant into her salad. The  
Ferengi touted it as a mystery ingredient in their so-called aphrodisiacs...  
One of the ship's botanists had discovered it while surveying a planet near  
Ferengi space, asked permission to bring it aboard, planted it, and promptly  
forgotten about it. He would have been very surprised to find out that the  
plant actually worked.

Once ingested, the plant went to work on a person's emotions and self-  
control, and brought repressed thoughts and feelings to the surface, which  
was why the Ferengi called it an aphrodisiac. It took quite a while to take  
effect, and then some time to wear off - about eight hours.

Meanwhile, Picard had to live with its effects... and he wasn't doing very  
well.

Beverly still sat staring at Picard from a seat at the back of the  
shuttlecraft. She ran all the things which could possibly be wrong with him  
in her mind, and the only thing which seemed to fit was the water-  
intoxication they had picked up from the Tsiolkovsky. Whatever Picard had  
managed to get, it was acting in the same way as that water molecule:  
bringing repressed thoughts and feelings to the surface.

Beverly had no way to test her idea, except to ask Picard, so she leaned  
forward. "Jean-Luc, when did you first start feeling like this?"

"Like what?" he asked, and that was a bad sign. Whatever this was did not  
act like a drug to change one's awareness at all. There was no single moment  
when one remembered acting strangely, it merely opened up one's subconscious  
and allowed you access to it; at least, this was what Beverly thought had  
happened.

She tried again. "Jean-Luc, tell me what you're thinking."

"I'm thinking... that I don't have enough fun. That I'm too serious... that  
I don't let myself enjoy life. That I never gave in to my love for you, and  
that it was a mistake." He eyed Beverly strangely, and got up.

"What are you doing?" she inquired, but Picard took her in his arms.

"No, Jean-Luc!" cried Beverly, and tried to escape, but, though she knew  
Starfleet unarmed combat techniques, so did the captain. Beverly's struggle  
only landed her up on the floor, with Picard still holding onto her. "Jean-  
Luc, please! Let me go!"

Picard didn't let her go, but he asked her the one question which, he knew,  
would make her not want him to let go. "Beverly, do you love me? I know you  
said... some things. I think they're true. You do love me."

Beverly stopped struggling and looked up into those hazel eyes. "That's not  
fair."

"I think it is." For all his illogical behaviour, Picard was still very  
lucid, and he knew exactly what he was asking. "I think you do love me, and  
you're scared because I didn't wait for you to take the initiative."

It was true. The doctor had always loved Picard, but she'd always assumed  
she'd have some control over when, and if, anything happened between them.  
Picard had taken away that control, and that, more than even his illogical  
behaviour, scared her. She couldn't bring herself to deny it, she just  
continued to stare into his eyes, defeated.

And Picard said, "You want me. Don't you?" His tone indicated that if she  
said no, no it would be. Whatever else he was, Jean-Luc Picard was a  
definite gentleman, no matter what was wrong with him.

Beverly looked up at him. "Jean-Luc -- "

"Yes or no."

Crusher closed her eyes. "Yes."

"Yes what?"

For one insane moment, Crusher almost answered, "Yes, Sir." Then she  
realised that Picard wanted to be sure of what that "Yes" meant. "Yes, I  
want you, Jean-Luc. You know that," she said, defying him to deny it.

But he didn't. He HAD always known. He bent his head then, and kissed her...  
very lightly at first, then with more passion. He didn't wait for anything,  
he immediately began undoing her uniform with one hand, and continuing to  
hold her with the other.

Beverly could barely contain her surprise. In her (rationalized) fantasies,  
she had always thought that she would be the one to lead Picard through a  
first sexual encounter... this was a shock... but a pleasant one.

"Mr. LaForge, are the sensors back on line yet?" asked Riker for the  
fourteenth time.

"I'll have 'em for you in about five minutes, Commander," came Geordi's  
voice from Engineering.

Riker turned and looked at Deanna. She in turn smiled comfortingly and said,

"You're really worried, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Don't be. The captain was acting bizarre, but... it's still him. He won't  
do anything that's against his own principles."

"Why would he do it?" Riker pondered again.

Troi shook her head. "He must have ingested something that brought his  
repressed desires to the surface."

"You think so?"

"Yes."

"Then why haven't we all caught whatever he has?"

"I don't know. Will," said Deanna, trying to calm Riker down, "I can feel  
him... somewhere out there. He'll be fine, I promise."

"I'll hold you to that, Counselor," the first officer said.

Beverly Crusher and Jean-Luc Picard still lay on the floor of the shuttlepod.  
Both were staring up at the ceiling, not saying anything. Crusher pondered  
the last hours, hoped that she'd be able to cure whatever it was that was  
wrong with Picard... and smiled at the memory of the last hour. Next to her  
she heard Picard sigh, so she turned and looked at him again. "What is it?"

"I was just thinking.... why did I wait eighteen years to do that?"

"What?"

"Tell you I love you. Make love to you."

"We were both fools," said Beverly, leaning over Picard and initiating  
another kiss.

When it ended, Picard said, "Yes, we were."

"How long have we been out here, Jean-Luc?"

Picard looked at the shuttle chronometer. "I think about nine hours."

"And how do you feel?"

"Happy." His smile lit up the entire pod cabin.

"We should contact the Enterprise," said the doctor, expecting Picard to  
refuse, to talk of exploring the galaxy with her... but he didn't.

"I think you're right. Duty calls."

Beverly dared to hope that the old, normal Picard was back as he got up and  
went to turn the communications back on. Somehow, he had even managed to  
turn of their communicators; no wonder the ship hadn't contacted them.

"Picard to Enterprise."

"Riker here. Sir... are you all right."

"We're fine, Number One. Our position is... 321 mark 7, about a parsec from  
you."

Data's voice over the comm chanel said, "Scanning... I have the shuttle,  
Sir."

"We'll be there in five minutes, Captain," said Riker.

"Fine."

When Picard closed off the comm chanel, he turned around to find Beverly  
watching him. "Doctor?"

"Jean-Luc, what's going to happen when we get to the Enterprise? What are  
you going to say to them? What are we going to do?"

"Beverly... if there was something wrong with me, we'll find it."

"Yes, but..." She couldn't bring herself to say what was on her mind.

"I will still love you. I think we're old enough to handle a relationship on  
board, don't you?"

"Yes!" Beverly threw her arms around him, and when the two of them  
disengaged, they found themselves in the shuttlebay of the Starship  
Enterprise.

Picard, Riker, Crusher, Worf, Troi, Geordi and Data sat in the Conference  
Lounge, discussing what had happened.

"I have found traces of some kind of foreign agent in the captain's body,"  
the doctor was saying, "but it had already been metabolised; I don't think  
we'll be able to work out what it was."

"How did he ingest it?" asked Worf, ever-vigilant.

"I think that's my fault," said Riker. "Keiko wanted to make kuusht salad,  
but one of the necessary ingredients was missing, so she had me find a  
similar one."

"And when I ate it, it acted on my systems?" queried Picard.

"We think so," said Riker. "Unfortunately, on the day you took off, the  
botany staff cleared the gardens as they do every six months, so whatever it  
was is gone."

Picard sighed. "I suppose that's it then," he said, standing up. "Thank you,  
everyone." Then he looked rather pointedly at his chief medical officer.

Beverly stood up as well. "I... we... have an announcement to make, before  
the rumours begin. I am moving my things into the captain's quarters as from  
today."

The look on both their faces was defiant, but all they got were smiles and  
warm congratulations from the crew, who then filed out... except for Data.

He stopped, and turned at the door. "Inquiry, Sir." "Yes, Mr. Data."

"Does the doctor's moving her things into your quarters imply a romantic  
relationship between the two of you?"

Picard smiled, looking at Beverly. "It does indeed."

Data nodded once and went out; Picard took Beverly in his arms.

"You know..." mused the doctor, "I must find Keiko and thank her."

"For...?"

"For giving you to me."

"I think I'll thank her as well," responded Jean-Luc, bending his head to  
kiss her...

... and the door opened with a *swoosh*. Wesley Crusher stood there, togs in  
hand, arriving home for a holiday. "Ah... I think I'll come back later..."  
he said, and stumbled out again, to much knowing laughter from the bridge  
crew.

And in the Observation Lounge, Picard kissed Beverly as if the interruption  
had not occurred.

THE END


End file.
